John Kenneth Galbraith was one of the great economists of the twentieth century. In The\u00a0Culture of Contentment<\/i>, published in 1992, he offered a warning about what happens when prosperous people use democracy to protect their own economic security while ignoring those excluded from it.<\/p>\n
More than 30 years later, that warning deserves another hearing.<\/p>\n
In this Funding the Future podcast, John Christensen and I discuss why Galbraith\u2019s analysis remains so powerful. We look at the rise of the home- and asset-owning democracy under Thatcher and Reagan, the political importance of rising asset prices, the mythology of individual self-reliance and the extraordinary willingness of the economically contented\u00a0to accept government support for themselves while condemning support for those in poverty.<\/p>\n
We then ask what has changed since Galbraith wrote.<\/p>\n
The financial crash, climate crisis, cost-of-living pressures and housing crisis have weakened the old economic settlement. Younger generations have largely been denied access to the property and financial wealth that created security for many older people. Meanwhile, those who remain contented depend increasingly upon asset values that may prove vulnerable to another financial crisis.<\/p>\n
Galbraith knew that apparently stable political systems could unravel remarkably quickly.<\/p>\n
The question facing us now is what comes afterwards. Can we create an economy that provides security for everyone rather than preserving privilege for those who already possess it?<\/p>\n